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Mayor Bing attends final flag ceremony, honors city’s COVID-19 frontliners

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Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia (left) during the flag-raising ceremony at the Bacolod City Government Center grounds yesterday.*

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia yesterday honored frontliners who risked their lives and limbs in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and called them “modern-day heroes” who paved the way that led to Bacolod City’s de-escalation to Alert Level 1.

Leonardia led city officials, along with Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, chair of the local Inter-Agency Task Force, in paying tribute to Emergency Operations Center-Task Force and COVID Vaccination Council volunteers, headed by Councilor-elect Em Legaspi Ang, with her deputies Dr. Chris Sorongon and Dr. Anna Maria Laarni Pornan of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.

Leonardia, who will step down as top city executive on June 30, made history as the city’s longest serving mayor, holding the position for 18 years out of his over three-decade political career, after becoming the No. 1 Councilor on his first try in 1988 and later being catapulted to Vice Mayorship. He also served as a one-term Congressman.

Prior to his attendance at the EOC appreciation program, the mayor attended his last flag-raising ceremony, where he thanked emotional employees for their hard work and dedication that made Bacolod one of the most progressive highly-urbanized cities in the country today, earning national and regional awards every year, including the Most Business-Friendly HUC in the Philippines twice and runner-up honors for five years, Most Livable City, Best Performing Local Government Unit, and many-time recipient of the DILG’s Seal of Good Local Governance, among others.

In his flag-raising message, Leonardia recounted how he cherished those days without that he would look out of his office window to find joy seeing families and visitors enjoying picnics or get-togethers at the grounds of the Bacolod City Government Center which his administration built in 2007.

The BCGC rose to become one of the most Instagrammable and most photographed landmarks in this side of the country.

“I am here today because I want to see all of you and to personally thank you. To the department heads down to the job order workers, thank you for your hard work,” Leonardia said.

GONZAGA BRIDGE

Leonardia was joined by Councilors Renecito Novero and Lady Gles Gonzales Pallen, ABC president; Brgy. Capt. Jun Mark Carpio of Barangay 28, City Engineer’s Office executives, Executive Assistant George Zulueta during the inauguration and blessing of the 70-lineal meter Gonzaga Bridge that was widened to include a pedestrian walk with railings to ensure safety of people plying the area.

Officiating the rites was Fr. Ireneo “Baby” Gordoncillo.

The project, constructed by Supreme ATF Construction and Construction Supply, cost P44, 949,942.95, the CEO said.

The bridge, which connects the downtown area and Libertad Market via a shorter distance going to Dona Juliana, will decongest flow to traffic along Gonzaga Street, Lopez Jaena Street and adjacent major thoroughfares as envisioned by Leonardia

VOLUNTEERS VS. PANDEMIC CITED

Sorongon, the EOC deputy for medical, disclosed that Bacolod’s current vaccination rate is at 146 percent above the target set by the LGU.

This is the highest vaccination record in Western Visayas as per record of the Department of Health, he said.

As we step down soon, we will be turning over a safer Bacolod (from COVID). All of these because of the dedication and firm commitment of the volunteers in the battle against the pandemic, Sorongon said.

Leonardia gave citations to EOC Task Force, whose certificate of appreciation was received by OIC City Health Officer Dr. Edwin Miraflor, Jr.; Ma. Teresa Quebrar-Manalili, EOC secretariat head; Edrian Roel Robete, data collection and management; Dr. Rosalie Deocampo, contact tracing; Dr. Grace Tan, testing cluster; Ernie Pineda, extraction; Dr. Anna Maria Laarni Pornan, disinfection and. BREDCO Team; Razielle Ann Morales, TTMF; Councilor Lady Gles Pallen, Liga ng Barangays; Councilor Ayesha, APORs; Public Information Office; Dr. Miraflor and Dr. Sorongon, vaccination team, and the Bacolod City Police Office.*

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